Vilsack gets Ag
By Michael J.W. Stickings
It is expected that Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack will be tapped by Obama to be agriculture secretary. I've never been all that fond of Vilsack -- he gets more attention than he deserves because Iowa holds the first Democratic caucuses and therefore because he gets pandered to -- and I think Ezra Klein is right that he's just too close to the corn (ethanol) industry: "Appointing him to head the agency is like appointing the governor of a petrostate to head the Department of Energy." Still, as Steve Benen notes, "the news may not be that bad." Vilsack, after all, does seem to be something of a conservationist -- perhaps too much of one for Big Ag, which would be a good thing.
So, as with some of Obama's other questionable appointees -- Gates, Salazar, Jones -- we'll see. I'm still willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, but I'm certainly not as generous with it as I used to be.
It is expected that Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack will be tapped by Obama to be agriculture secretary. I've never been all that fond of Vilsack -- he gets more attention than he deserves because Iowa holds the first Democratic caucuses and therefore because he gets pandered to -- and I think Ezra Klein is right that he's just too close to the corn (ethanol) industry: "Appointing him to head the agency is like appointing the governor of a petrostate to head the Department of Energy." Still, as Steve Benen notes, "the news may not be that bad." Vilsack, after all, does seem to be something of a conservationist -- perhaps too much of one for Big Ag, which would be a good thing.
So, as with some of Obama's other questionable appointees -- Gates, Salazar, Jones -- we'll see. I'm still willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, but I'm certainly not as generous with it as I used to be.
Labels: Obama Administration, Obama transition, Tom Vilsack, U.S. Department of Agriculture
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
3:30 PM
1 Comments:
"...not as generous with it as I used to be." Very good way to put it.
Obama crossed a line for me with Rick Warren leading the prayer at the inaugural -- I know this is symbol not substance, but it is a very bad symbol. I've just gotten very ungenerous indeed. At this point, Obama will have to do something outstandingly good to get me back to even.
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janinsanfran, at 9:25 PM
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